On March 25, CDC posted "ACIP Provisional Recommendations for the Prevention and Control of Influenza" for the 2008-09 influenza season. Provisional recommendations are those ACIP has voted on but that are not yet approved by CDC or the Department of Health and Human Services and not yet published in MMWR. Once the influenza recommendations are approved, they are tentatively scheduled for MMWR publication in June 2008. Portions of the provisional recommendations are reprinted below.

To access other provisional recommendations, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/provisional

IAC recently mailed the latest issue of Vaccinate Adults (March 2008) to 150,000 adult medicine specialists and others who work in the field of immunization. Packed with immunization and hepatitis resources, the 12-page issue is well worth downloading. All articles and education pieces, except editorials, have been reviewed by immunization and hepatitis experts at CDC.

You can view selected articles from the table of contents below or download the entire issue from the Web.

To download a ready-to-print (PDF) version of the entire issue, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/va/va21.pdf

The PDF file of the entire issue is large. For tips on downloading and printing PDF files, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/nslt.d/tips.htm

To view the table of contents with links to individual articles, go to:
http://www.immunize.org/va

The March issue includes several notable print resources on immunization and viral hepatitis, all of which can be downloaded:

• Ask the Experts
   
• Vaccine Administration Record for Adults
   
• Hepatitis B Facts: Testing and vaccination
   
• Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule, United States, October 2007-September 2008

If you would like to subscribe to the mail version of Vaccinate Adults, go to: http://www.immunize.org/subscribe Your subscription will begin with the autumn 2008 issue.

On March 26, the Atlanta Journal Constitution published an op-ed article written by NCIRD's director, Anne Schuchat, MD. Titled "Vaccines' Benefits Outweigh Dangers: Autism claim shouldn't deter parents," the article states that since 1988, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has provided compensation in about 2,100 cases. In no case was autism determined to be caused by a vaccine. During the same time frame, about 100 million U.S. children received recommended childhood immunizations.

The op-ed article is now posted on the CDC website. To access it, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/news/2008/03/VaccineQuestions.html

On March 14, Dr. Paul Offit spoke on a teleconference sponsored by the Pennsylvania chapter of AAP. Dr. Offit (1) described the weight of research on causes of autism, (2) summarized research on whether thimerosal or MMR vaccine cause autism, (3) described the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), (4) summarized the recent Poling VICP case and media coverage, and (5) described ways to address parents' vaccine concerns, in particular, requests for an extended vaccine schedule using individual antigens. Dr. Offit presented for approximately 25 minutes and answered about 15 minutes of caller questions.

Dr. Offit is chief of Infectious Diseases and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

To download the teleconference mp3 file, go to: http://www.paiep.org In the section titled What's New, click on the link labeled "To listen to the talk (mp3 file) click here."

CDC published "Errata: Vol 57, No.1" in the March 28 issue of MMWR. The errata concern "Recommended Immunization Schedules for Persons Aged 0-18 Years--United States, 2008," which were published on January 11 as an MMWR QuickGuide. The errata are reprinted below in their entirety.

To receive a FREE electronic subscription to MMWR (which includes new ACIP statements), go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwrsubscribe.html

On March 25, the NCIRD website posted an updated interactive Childhood Immunization Scheduler for children age 6 years and younger. It is based on the 2008 Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule.

Parents who use the interactive scheduler are cautioned that the information it contains may not be accurate for a child who has a condition that affects the immune system. Parents are also encouraged to consult a clinician for advice on their child's immunization needs.

To access the scheduler, go to:
http://www2a.cdc.gov/nip/kidstuff/newscheduler_le

Sarah Jane Schwarzenberg, MD, and Karen Y. Wainwright, RN, recently made minor changes to their patient-education piece "You are not alone! Information for young adults who are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus."

The revised piece is posted on the IAC website. To access it,go to: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4118.pdf

Influenza is currently circulating, and vaccination should continue from now through May. Visit the following websites often to find the information you need to keep vaccinating. Both are continually updated with the latest resources.

The National Influenza Vaccine Summit website at
http://www.preventinfluenza.org

CDC's Seasonal Flu web section at http://www.cdc.gov/flu

On March 26, CDC's Travelers' Health web section announced that yellow fever vaccine is now available in single-dose vials. In the recent past, there was a temporary shortage of the vaccine in the single-dose presentation. Portions of the March 26 announcement are reprinted below.

To access the announcement, go to:
http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/contentYellowFeverVaccineShortage.aspx

FDA recently updated two tables in its online resource "Thimerosal in Vaccines." They are "Table 2. Preservatives in US. Licensed Vaccines" and "Table 3. Thimerosal and Expanded List of Vaccines."

To access the updated tables, go to: http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/thimerosal.htm and click on the pertinent link in the table of contents.

The Immunization Coalitions Technical Assistance Network (IZTA) April 10 conference call is titled "Misperceptions, Raw Emotions, Potent Strategies: Working with Traditional and New Media to Promote the Facts about Vaccine Safety." IZTA is a program of the Center for Health Communication, Academy for Educational Development.

The April 10 call will be held at 2PM, ET. To register, send an email to izta@aed.org Include this message: "Sign me up for the promoting vaccine safety call."

For additional information, or to access earlier programs, go to: http://www.izta.org/confcall.cfm

The Federal Register for March 24 included an announcement of the April 11 meeting of the Vaccine Safety Working Group of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC). The meeting, which is open to the public, is planned for Washington, DC. Pre-registration is required for both public attendance and comment. Any individual who wishes to attend the meeting and/or participate in the public comment session should contact the designated staff member, Daniel Salmon, by email at daniel.salmon@hhs.gov or call him at (202) 690-5566.

The meeting announcement includes details of the meeting's content. To access the announcement directly, go to: http://regulations.justia.com/view/106050

To access the announcement, as well as background information on the Immunization Safety Office Scientific Agenda, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/od/science/iso/agenda.htm The announcement is located in the section titled "Who will review the ISO Scientific Agenda." Click on the link titled "meeting" for the announcement.

CDC published "Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication--Pakistan and Afghanistan, 2007" in the March 28 issue of MMWR. A portion of press summary of the article is reprinted below.

To access a ready-to-print (PDF) version of this issue of MMWR, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5712.pdf

April 16 is the date for the Chicago Area Immunization Campaign's Spring General Meeting. It will be held at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

To download the conference brochure, go to:
http://www.ilmaternal.org/CAIC/Misc/Spring08Mtgbrochure.pdf

For additional information, contact Melissa Ponce at (312) 491-8161.